


A Change of Plans

by EaglePursuit



Series: Another Summer's Sunny Days [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Crystal - Freeform, F/M, Post-Gravity Falls, Returning to Gravity Falls, Short, Teenage Dipper Pines, Teenage Dipper Pines and Mabel Pines, Teenage Mabel Pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:20:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24783763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaglePursuit/pseuds/EaglePursuit
Summary: Part 3 of the Another Summer's Sunny Days series. Dipper and Mabel wake up to an amazing surprise and a change of plans, but not everyone is going to be happy about it. How is Dipper going to break the news to Crystal?
Relationships: Dipper Pines/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Another Summer's Sunny Days [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1792519
Kudos: 18





	A Change of Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Based on: Disney’s Gravity Falls  
> Created by: Alex Hirsch
> 
> Beta readers: my wife & PK2317  
> Art by: KID | @KIDWMA

A Change of Plans

“Do my eyes deceive me!?” Mabel whispered gleefully, crouching at the window sill in her night shirt next to her brother.

Dipper looked at her. “Do your eyes see two old men yelling at each other in the parking lot?”

“Yes!”

“Then your eyes do not deceive you!” He grinned, sharing her excitement. 

Outside in the darkness, an elderly man backed a large boat on its trailer into a parking spot next to the totem pole using a RV while the other elderly man gave directions with a combination of terse verbal commands and frantic hand gestures.

The twin teens bounded down the stairs and out onto the lawn to greet the new arrivals. Their feet reached the dewy grass just in time for them to witness the stern of the  _ Stan o’ War II _ crashing into the totem pole. The replica had been carved out of a disused utility pole and painted by Stan many years ago, and seemingly its last act was to take revenge on him by snapping in half; the upper half ripping a gash in the roof of the boat’s wheelhouse.

Stan climbed out of the cab of the RV in a fit. “Ford, you told me to go right!”

“Yes!” Ford yelled back. “If you had made the trailer go right, it would have missed the totem pole!”

“You didn’t say ‘Make the trailer go right’,” —Stan pantomimed the motions of the RV and trailer with his hands— “You said ‘go right’. When I go right, the trailer goes left.”

The argument was interrupted by a pair of ballistic tackles that knocked the breath out of their targets. “Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!”

“Hot beef tamales! I thought you kids weren’t gonna show up till tomorrow,” Stan said, squirming out of Mabel’s relentless hug. “We were gonna surprise ya.”

“Mission accomplished! We are very surprised to see you show up just now.” Mabel grinned.

Stan pointed a finger at her, smiling. “That’s true! It is surprising. Usually, I’m sneakin’ outta town in the middle of the night, not sneakin’ in.” 

“At any rate, it’s very late,” Ford interrupted, examining his wrist chronometer. “We should all get some sleep and talk in the morning.”

The younger Pines gave their uncles another round of hugs and went back to their beds in the attic while the older ones prepared the RV for a few hours of rest.

“Dipper?” asked Mabel, who was now too excited to sleep. “How long do you think they will be staying?”

“I don’t know.” He yawned. “Maybe they are just staying for the rest of the week like us. We can ask them in the morning.”

Mabel gasped. “Sweet Sally! We were only staying a week because we didn’t know they would be here. Maybe if they’re staying longer, we can too.” 

Dipper mumbled something incoherent in response. He was already back to sleep, so Mabel picked up Waddles and looked him in his cherubic porcine face. “I hope they stay all summer.”

* * *

“Good news! We’re staying all summer!” Stan dished a stack of stancakes, his signature breakfast meal, onto Mabel’s plate. Ford, Soos in the Mr. Mystery costume, and the teens were sitting in lawn chairs next to the RV eating breakfast. Stan was still dressed in his sleeveless undershirt and boxers despite a crowd of tourists milling around.

Dipper and Mabel cheered, “Yaaay!”

“So, why did you come back anyway?” asked Dipper.

Ford swallowed a piece of stancake. “We were investigating an anomaly off the coast of Tierra del Fuego when we discovered a sunken you-know-what. It was much more recent than the one at Crash Site Omega,” He glanced around to make sure none of the tourists were close enough to hear. “We were able to retrieve an item from the wreck, which the Gravity Falls saucer either didn’t have or lost in the impact. I needed to come back to my lab in order to do a full analysis to determine what it is.”

“Plus, we could use a little R&R after our adventures,” added Stan.

Mabel poked his belly playfully. “Bwop! Are you sure it wasn’t just to see us, Grunkle Stan?”

“What? You brats?” joked Stan. “Maybe a little.”

“Mr. Pines, since you’re here, did you want your hat back?” Soos held the beat-up red fez out for Stan.

Stan snatched it away from him and plopped it on his own head. “I just don’t feel like myself without this old thing. Thanks, Soos.”

“No problem, Mr. Pines,” Soos replied. “I took the liberty of buying another one to maintain the Mr. Mystery persona.” He pulled it out of his back pocket and placed it snuggly on his head. It had a question mark on it, but otherwise looked the same as Stan’s, albeit newer and less crumpled.

Stan nodded approvingly. “Looks good on ya, Soos.”

“Well, I better get back inside. I’ve got to lead a Pegoland tour in five minutes.” Soos stood up and walked towards the Shack entrance. “I’ll see you dudes later.”

Stan looked at Dipper and Mabel. “What’s a Pegoland?”

“Pego are interlocking plastic bricks. You can build toy cars and buildings and stuff with them. Soos set up a miniature Pego city in the display hall. It’s a big hit with the kids,” Dipper informed him helpfully.

“Huh? I never woulda thought of that.”

“Well, if you guys are staying all summer, so are we,” said Mabel cheerfully. “I just need to tell Mom and Dad.” 

Dipper raised an eyebrow. “You mean, ‘ _ ask _ Mom and Dad’?”

“I said what I said,” Mabel declared proudly, and blew a raspberry at him. “I believe  _ you’re _ the one who’s going to need to grovel for permission.”

“Ugh, you’re right.” Dipper’s heart sank into his stomach. “I didn’t think of that. This is going to require tact and diplomacy.”

“You in trouble or somethin’, kid?” Stan looked at him quizzically.

“He’s going to be.” Mabel relished Dipper’s discomfort with a mischievous grin. “Dipper’s got a girlfriend and she does not approve of Gravity Falls.”

“It’s not that she doesn’t approve of Gravity Falls per se. She just doesn’t like the idea of me doing anything risky,” explained Dipper, who was beginning to sweat.

“... or believe in mythical creatures. Or ghosts. Or giant robots. Or anything else here, really,” continued Mabel.

Ford looked up from his breakfast. “Sounds like quite a catch,” he quipped dryly.

“At least Dipper’s got a girlfriend. I don’t think Ford ever has.” Stan smirked teasingly. “Have ya, Poindexter? Always up to your eyeballs in your books; too busy to notice.”

Ford scowled disapprovingly at his brother. “I’ll have you know, I did have a girlfriend. Once.”

“Oh, yeah? I don’t remember her. What was her name?” Stan needled his brother.

“That’s none of your business!” he huffed and turned around the line of questioning. “When was the last time you went on a date, Stanley?”

Stan smiled smugly. “I’ll have you know I went to the beach with that horse lady in Scotland. We had a nice time.”

“She was a kelpie!” Ford smacked himself on the forehead in exasperation. “And I had to save you from being drowned.”

“Eh, I can’t afford to be too picky at my age.” Stan waved him off dismissively.

“Well, anyway. About our living arrangements, I’m going to set up a cot in my study. I understand Soos’s abuelita has commandeered the lounge, but I need a little space from my  _ dear _ brother.” Ford looked at Stan pointedly. “I’ve rediscovered how difficult it is to live in close proximity to him for months on end.” He stood up and walked toward the residential entrance to the Mystery Shack.

“Suit yourself, Sixer. I’m just going to stay in the RV.” Stan leaned his lawn chair back against the side of the cumbersome vehicle. After Ford went inside Stan turned to the teens. “Hey, you guys wanna help me fix the  _ Stan o’ War _ ? It used to be I could just boss Soos into fixing whatever, but he’s the boss now.”

“Not it!” blurted Mabel. “I gotta call Mom and Dad.” She fled into the Shack before anyone could gainsay her.

“Gosh, I’m really sorry.” apologized Dipper insincerely. “I’d love to, Grunkle Stan. But I need to go argue with my girlfriend.” He stood up to head inside, but could see Mabel already standing on the roof platform with her phone. He didn’t want to fight with Crystal in front of her, so he began walking around the yard, holding his phone up, looking for a spot with a decent signal. 

His signal hunt eventually brought him near the Bottomless Pit at the far end of the yard. Having fallen into the pit once before, he kept a respectful distance from it. He didn’t want to waste another twenty minutes plummeting through the darkness. 

However, he noticed a group of rectangular objects lying close to the rim of the pit and decided to see what they were. He didn’t need to get much closer to identify them and it made his heart beat faster. They were Ford’s three journals laying in the dew-slick grass. He collected them, dried them on his shirt and placed them in the spacious inside pocket of his vest. Tossing them back into the pit was completely out of consideration as far as Dipper was concerned. If he was staying the whole summer, they could come in handy. 

Dipper pulled his phone out of his pocket again and decided to head toward a ridge that cut across a corner of the Mystery Shack’s property. If he could manage a few bars on the Shack’s roof platform, the top of the ridge should be even better.

* * *

The ridge was steeper than it looked from the Shack, and Dipper had only managed to struggle up a third of it before he took a break on an outcropping of rock. ”Stupid…altitude…still aclimated…to sea level,” he wheezed to himself. He noticed a ledge a hundred yards uphill and mentally marked it as his next objective. He caught his breath and heaved himself up to his feet. Looking upward, he grabbed a tuft of grass and started climbing again.

Ten minutes later, Dipper lurched over the precipice and laid himself on the flat ground, ruefully regretting not having the foresight to bring any water. He pulled his phone out of his vest pocket and looked at it. “Whoa, I’ve got five bars up here.”

Dipper ate a granola bar that came out of his pocket with the phone. He couldn’t remember when he put it in there. It may have been last summer. “Oh well, better get this over with.” He sighed with resignation, selected Crystal’s contact, and pressed Call.

She answered the phone after four rings. “Hey, Mason! This is earlier than I expected. Is everything okay?”

“Hi, Crystal. Yeah, everything’s great actually. I just have to tell you something you’re not going to like,” Dipper began with a cringe.

“Oh no! You’re not hurt are you? Did you break your arm?” She sounded alarmed.

“What? No. my arms are fine. I’ve been told they’re quite durable. Although they’re a little sore right now. I kind of climbed a mountain to talk to you. Nice view too,” rambled Dipper. He paused momentarily to look out across the forest and focus.

“Are you breaking up with me!? It’s Wendy, isn’t it?” guessed Crystal, now growing distraught.

“Okay, stop.” Dipper stood and began to pace. “No, I’m not breaking up with you. This has nothing to do with Wendy. Please stop guessing and just let me tell you.”

Crystal collected herself. “Um, okay.” 

“The thing is...” —he paced towards one end of the ledge and turned around— “my great uncles arrived last night, and they’re going to stay for the whole summer...and so Mabel and I have changed plans. We’re going to stay too.”

“You...are staying...in Gravity Falls...for the whole summer?” The pitch of her voice increased with each syllable.

“Yes,” confirmed Dipper hesitantly. He was suddenly less confident than he sounded.

“And you didn’t, maybe, want to run that by your girlfriend before you decided that!?” Her anger was palpable, even hundreds of miles away.

He steeled his nerve, knowing what was coming. It was playing out like an exaggerated version of the arguments he had with her before about visiting for only a week. “Crystal, this is what Mabel and I do during the summer. This is our thing. We didn’t initially think we could stay in Gravity Falls  _ all _ summer this year. But now we can, so we are. It’s a part of our lives. It’s a part of me.” He paced towards the other end of the ledge.

“And aren’t I a part of your life?” She asked sharply. Dipper could picture her teeth clenched, eyes livid.

“Yeah...Actually, I was hoping that these two parts of my life could—” Dipper turned and ran face-first into a huge kneecap. He spat out a mouthful of auburn hair, looked up, and took in a pair of worn cargo shorts, a tattered muscle shirt, and a shaggy face that was neither human nor entirely ape-like. “...uh…could…uh…uh,” stammered Dipper into the phone.

“Could what!?” Crystal sounded irate.

The tall creature uttered, “Bro,” and unexpectedly snatched the phone from Dipper’s hand.

“Hey, give that back!”

“Mason, what’s going on?” Dipper could faintly hear her voice coming from the phone in the crytpid’s hand.

The enormous humanoid examined the smartphone. It delicately poked the screen with one of its thick, knobby fingers, ending the call, then activated the front camera. “Selfie,” it declared in its bestial voice. It made duck lips and a sideways peace sign, then took a picture of itself.

Dipper pulled Journal 3 out of his vest. “Oh, I know what you are,” he said, flipping through the book. “Abominable Bro-Man. How interesting.” Dipper reviewed the entry then shut the journal and put it away. “Okay big guy, I’m going to need my phone back. I was in the middle of an important conversation.”

“No. Status update.” The Bro-Man refused, holding the phone up higher than Dipper could reach.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Dipper said with determination. He climbed a few yards higher on the hillside above the ledge and jumped on the Bro-Man’s back. The creature swung around violently, trying to dislodge him. Dipper wrapped one arm around the man-ape’s neck and got a knee up onto its shoulder. He shimmied along its arm as it tried to shake him loose and grabbed the phone from its grasp.

“I’ll be keeping this,” Dipper announced as he fell to the narrow precipice.

The Bro-Man crouched down so that it was eye to eye with Dipper. “Harsh, bro,” it growled in its strange, guttural voice and slammed its fist into the ground angrily.

Dipper took that as his cue to leave and jumped off the ledge. He skidded down the hillside, yelping in pain as his face and body were whipped by brush and tree limbs. Looking back, he saw the trees above quiver and thrash as the Bro-Man pursued him. The beast roared, inspiring Dipper to still greater speeds. He dove into the thicker forest on the valley floor and scrambled through the branches of a fallen tree, then slipped through a thicket of thorns that tore at his clothes, using his smaller size to his advantage like a chased rabbit. The Bro-Man was slowed as it crashed through the obstacles which Dipper deftly threaded through.

Ignoring the burning sensation in his lungs and thighs, Dipper ran on pure adrenaline. He knew he was going to have some painful cramps and probably vomit all night too from altitude sickness, but for now he just had to keep going and stay ahead of the creature. He splashed through runnels and dodged around boulders, the Bro-Man relentlessly in pursuit.

Dipper burst out of the forest and into the yard of the Mystery Shack, followed closely by the hairy, hulking biped dressed like a fraternity brother. Mabel and Stan were sitting on the deck of the  _ Stan o’ War II _ talking with Wendy; who had come by to visit the new arrivals after receiving a text from Mabel. While Dipper was gone Stan had managed to dislodge the totem pole and patch up the hole in the wheelhouse with their assistance.

“Grunkle Stan, help me!” yelled Dipper.

“Is that the girlfriend?” Stan asked Mabel, squinting. “She’s not much to look at, is she?” 

Mabel pursed her lips in concern. “Nope! I think Dipstick’s in trouble. What should we do?”

“I’m on it.” Wendy casually jumped off the boat and pulled an axe from the back of her Humvee.

Dipper began to run a lap around the Shack with the Bro-Man right behind him. “Wendy, do something!”

Tourists outside were taking photos and pointing at the creature chasing Dipper as if it were a Mystery Shack attraction. Soos stuck his head out the window, “Hey, that’ll be fifteen dollars per person to see today’s attraction…whatever it is. Please pay in the gift shop.”

Stan laughed. “I taught him well.”

The tall creature came around the corner, hot on Dipper’s heels. Wendy swung the flat of her axe at its leg, connecting at the knee with a sickening crunch and causing it to tumble end over end. It howled in pain and careened into the wall of the Shack, knocking a satellite dish loose from the roof. The dish crashed onto the Bro-Man’s head, deforming vaguely to the shape of its skull. The creature slumped against the wall, unconscious.

Stan, Mabel, and Wendy approached with caution. “Can I keep it? Boop!” Mabel poked its nose with her finger.

Stan assessed it skeptically. “It smells like a fifty-five gallon drum of body spray, and it looks like it stole its clothes from the wardrobe department on the set of ‘New Jersey Beach Bums’. Plus, I don’t think it's housebroken. So that’s gonna be a ‘no’.”

“Get...rid...of...it.” Dipper panted into the dirt, having collapsed from exhaustion.

Stan considered the size of it. “How are we supposed to do that?”

“Ri ruhn’t roh.” Mabel shrugged.

A clever grin spread over Wendy’s face. “I’ve got an idea.”

* * *

The Humvee did large counterclockwise loops around the Mystery Shack’s yard, gradually building up speed while the inert form of the Abominable Bro-Man trailed behind it. Dipper rode in the front passenger seat with his head lolling out the window. Nausea had set in and going in circles wasn’t helping at all. Mabel sat in the small bed of the Humvee with her hand on the grappling hook’s gun part. Wendy smiled at Dipper. “I told you we’d have some fun off-roading in this thing. Wooo!”

Dipper responded by vomiting on the side of the Humvee and groaning piteously.

“Dude!” Wendy furrowed her brow. “Uncool, man. You’re hosing that off when we get done.”

The Humvee reached the desired speed and Wendy cranked the steering wheel hard to the left as they neared the Bottomless Pit. She yelled out the window, “Mabel, now!”

Mabel flicked the grappling hook rope, and the end attached to the creature’s legs came loose. It went pinwheeling towards the Bottomless Pit. The monster finally seemed to regain consciousness as it tumbled over the edge, clawing at the rim with its fingers before it succumbed to gravity. “D-u-u-u-de!” It disappeared into the inky darkness.

Wendy pulled the Humvee to a stop back in the parking lot after leaving the yard crazed with tire tracks. Dipper opened his door and fell face first into the gravel. 

“I’m going to take Dip-dip upstairs. I think he’s had a rough day.” Mabel helped him to his feet and guided him towards the Shack.

Wendy eyed the streaks of vomit on the passenger side of the Humvee as he limped onto the porch. “You owe me a carwash, man!” she called after him.

Before they got to the stairs, Soos popped his head into the hallway. “Dudes, just so you know, the internet is down. Probably won’t have it back up until we get a new dish.” He grimaced in surprise at Dipper’s condition. “Whoa. Dude, you don’t look so good.”

Dipper looked up at Soos feebly as he leaned on Mabel. “No texting?” Then he fell to his hands and knees and involuntarily disgorged the remaining contents of his roiling stomach on the floor.

Be sure to read the next adventure:

Scholarly Pursuits


End file.
